


Two Steps Ahead

by superagentwolf



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Other, Pre-Attack of the Clones, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5476661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superagentwolf/pseuds/superagentwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one believes Anakin when he says that Obi-Wan is in constant need of saving. There's a reason for that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Steps Ahead

It was a running joke amongst the people that Anakin Skywalker was so eager to advance that he  always claimed to have saved his Master several times.

Of course, no one believed him. Not even the Council.

This frustrated the young Jedi to no end. It was one thing for the people to ignore him- it was another for the Council to do so. He resolved, however, to let it go. Obi-Wan was magnificent and he always thanked Anakin, however much he tried to cover his feelings with humor. 

It nagged at him, though. He always wondered.

 

 

* * *

 

As soon as they approached the base, Obi-Wan knew it was a trap. He could feel the Force responding to him and he gently pushed back, testing. 

Two steps forward , he thought to himself,  only to take two steps back .

It was yet another case in which he would have to let himself be the one in danger. In his heart, he relished the chance to protect his Padawan. In his mind, he knew this strategy might do more harm than good. When the Council had insisted Obi-Wan let Anakin do as much of the work as possible, Obi-Wan had not been insulted. He understood the reasoning. Let the Chosen One be tested, over and over, and he will be tempered- like a sword for battle.

Only they didn’t know Anakin.

Obi-Wan had never been sure it was a good idea. Anakin was prone to pride, an inflated sense of self- and while it was to be expected from a young Jedi, Obi-Wan had always worried. He worried about the amount of power Anakin had and whether he could truly advance without learning humility. 

Following orders was his life, though. He could not disobey.

“Go take care of the control room. I’ll retrieve the hostages,” Obi-Wan said to his Padawan, nodding towards the stairs.

“Letting me do the heavy lifting, Master?” Anakin joked. 

Obi-Wan could feel the boy’s pleasure at being given a difficult task ripple through the Force. Looking back, he would realize that Anakin had always been in desperate need of humbling. At the moment, he could only think that Anakin was terribly wrong.

“Wouldn’t want you to fall out of practice,” Obi-Wan replied distractedly, sprinting towards the upper level. He could feel Anakin’s slight confusion before the emotion was overwhelmed by excitement.

There would only be two guards at the control room. Obi-Wan knew the real trap was on the second floor, where the hostages  should have been. Except there were no hostages- only a trap, a group intent on capturing Anakin and delivering him to the Sith behind everything.

Obi-Wan would gladly die before he would let Anakin be captured. 

Anakin was neither simply his Padawan nor his friend. He was not just a son or brother. He was something entirely different. He was the one who would have replaced Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon’s Padawan. He was the child who had showed so much potential, yet so much danger. He was the small boy who had climbed, shivering, into Obi-Wan’s bed the night of the funeral. Anakin was the one who had continued to do so well into his later years, thin frame clinging to his Master’s warm body for comfort.

Obi-Wan still doesn’t know why he allowed Anakin so much leeway. He thinks that maybe it wasn’t Anakin he was giving into.

The droid on the second level are a distraction. They’re easy for Obi-Wan to dispatch but there are so many his attention should be compromised.

It’s not.

Anakin is powerful. Obi-Wan knows this, but he also knows that there are things he doesn’t know about the Force. About life, the way of the Jedi. Obi-Wan has learned much since his Master’s death. He knows the loss of a dear friend and mentor, has learned what it is to have care of another. He has grown and the Force has grown within him. It is funny, Obi-Wan thinks, that one of Anakin’s problems is his repressed lack of belief in his Master. It’s exacerbated by the constant rescue Obi-Wan requires. Really, though, the seemingly middling power Anakin senses in Obi-Wan is what the man allows to show through. There is more, much more, that he hides in his heart.

So it is his heart that warns him now, when the presence of General Grievous begins to emanate from a higher level. The General is coming down.

Obi-Wan feels a shockwave in the Force, anger and sudden panic spiking in Anakin as the Padawan realizes his Master is likely in trouble. Obi-Wan chuckles, backing away from the droids, back towards the hallway. He knows they must make a quick escape, especially before Anakin catches sight of Grievous. 

The fight continues, Obi-Wan managing to keep the droids at bay while he tries to make his way back to the hangar. Grievous’ condition thankfully slows him considerably. Unfortunately, a couple of Destroyers roll around the corner to surround Obi-Wan, moving in front of the crowd of droids. Obi-Wan pauses, calculating. 

He could use the Force, likely revealing himself to Anakin. Or he could wait for is Padawan, keeping his cover while further miring them in the unhealthy circle they’ve been treading for months.

Anakin makes the decision, flying out from around the corner just as the Destroyers take aim for his Master. He vaults over the crowd, landing to press his back against his master’s, lightsaber ready.

“Why is it you always seem to get yourself into these messes, Master?” Anakin says dryly, the familiar joke a variant on the recurring theme. 

Obi-Wan wants to tell him,  so you won’t , but he knows how much that would tell, if Anakin would listen. Instead he bites his tongue, deflecting an attack before he replies.

“It’s good practice for you,” Obi-Wan pretends to argue, swatting away a droid.

He pretends that it doesn’t hurt each time. He’s not lying, he would never lie to Anakin- he’s just never made a point of telling the young man how much he means. How much  they  mean. The Indomitable Team. The Negotiator and the Hero with No Fear, traveling the galaxy to protect its citizens, the Republic. They weren’t just a team. They were symbiotic, complementary sides of the same order. The rebel and the soldier, Jedi on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Yet somehow, they worked.

After they left the base, they returned to the Temple. Obi-Wan felt the vague wave of annoyance emanating from Anakin when the other Jedi ignored his jokes about Obi-Wan’s newest ‘situation’. He pretended not to notice as they went to brief the Council. 

When Master Windu gave Obi-Wan a knowing look, he kept his face passive, schooled his emotions. He pretended not to feel sad, worried, like he was pushing Anakin too far. It was his duty to protect the Chosen One- but more than that, it was his pleasure. His pride.

He was a General. It was his job to stay two steps ahead.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wondered about the running gag where Anakin saves Obi-Wan. I adore Obi-Wan and I always thought it was weird (even with Anakin's power) that he would need saving. So, as usual, I thought maybe this had something to do with Obi-Wan's ridiculous selflessness and his absolute love of Anakin. This was essentially a developing headcanon where Obi-Wan is actually keeping Anakin out of the brunt of trouble, hence his constant involvement of shitty situations. Anyways. Read and review, thank you!


End file.
